U Account "Un-Banking" - Anyone heard of them ?

eDicky

It's hard to imagine anyone even contemplating paying so much for a prepaid card when alternatives with zero fees exist, including basic bank accounts that provide a card.

But this could be another symptom of the 'post-truth' era, with businesses as well as politicians and media realising that you can tell a dumbed-down population anything, regardless of the facts, if it's something that they like to hear. So people will go for something that is touted as 'free', even if there are various charges involved..!

eDicky

jasonwatkins wrote: »

i haven't seen many better prepay cards elsewhere

https://monzo.com/terms/#charges

PeacefulWaters

Surely a basic bank account kills these things dead.

agrinnall

jasonwatkins wrote: »

I'm not having any kind of difficulty thanks, so you can climb back up on your high horse.

I will, once you stop using "free" for a paid-for service.

Anthorn

jasonwatkins wrote: »

I'm not having any kind of difficulty thanks, so you can climb back up on your high horse.



At the moment, the best one, as i've said, is Pockit, because that's fee free but they're not sending out cards, keeping money deposited and not responding to any queries either, so that's not an option.

Every other one i've seen so far has upwards of a 2.5% POS transaction fee. Having a flat fee of £1 per transaction is a better way of doing it, obviously in my very humble opinion.

What we are essentially talking about is a bank account which is available to everyone and not a prepaid card. That's available for most people in a basic bank account for free. Even those who by reason of debt who can't get a basic bank account can most likely get a Coventry Building Society MoneyManager savings account which offers all of the functions of a bank account except overdrafts and a debit card for free - add a free prepaid card. With U/Frees that costs a tenner a month. Frees/U is not free because even with the £0 a month option everything including ATM, Direct Debits and Standing Orders have a fee.

Lastly, as previously stated there appears to be some difficulty associated with the understanding the definition of "free".

jasonwatkins

Anthorn wrote: »

Lastly, as previously stated there appears to be some difficulty associated with the understanding the definition of "free".

Again, no difficulty here at all but i'll let this thread go now ..

bigadaj

jasonwatkins wrote: »

Again, no difficulty here at all but i'll let this thread go now ..

..I'll give you a free assessment if you send me £20....

gregor123

U seems to be the newest entrant to the prepaid based current account market... there are many on the market and ive seen over the past few years some big names launch one (O2, Orange etc) and then exit...

The long standing ones seem to be the likes of OneBanking, Bread, icount money.

They all charge fees - this is where you need to be careful as many have "hidden fees".... remember these arent bank accounts and are instead financial products for purchase of which there is a cost to run them. They are good for some people, and not so good for others. I am a fan of them personally.

Free banking - 5 years a go i went in to my overdraft (without knowing) and over the course of a month got charged nearly £100... there is an argument to say that overdrafts are more expensive than Payday loans!!!!

Things to look out for with these accounts... just because they charge a low monthly fee (compared to others) means there will be higher fees elsewhere (ATM, Direct debit failure etc)

nevertheless, if you can get a free bank account and manage it well, go for that.... in the end its free! however if you need something that offers more functionality, these may be ideal for some but not all!

i hope this helps??

gregor123

eDicky wrote: »

It's hard to imagine anyone even contemplating paying so much for a prepaid card when alternatives with zero fees exist, including basic bank accounts that provide a card.

But this could be another symptom of the 'post-truth' era, with businesses as well as politicians and media realising that you can tell a dumbed-down population anything, regardless of the facts, if it's something that they like to hear. So people will go for something that is touted as 'free', even if there are various charges involved..!

yep - you can lead a horse to water......

agrinnall

gregor123 wrote: »

Free banking - 5 years a go i went in to my overdraft (without knowing) and over the course of a month got charged nearly £100... there is an argument to say that overdrafts are more expensive than Payday loans!!!!

But of course in your case completely avoidable by simply being aware of your financial situation.